American Airlines is trying to improve its passenger experience, and become more competitive with Delta and United. That’s great, and I’m rooting for them. While big product investments are nice, often it’s focusing on the basic things that makes the biggest difference.
I want to give an example of some unnecessary and totally avoidable friction to the passenger experience, which I witnessed on a flight from Tampa (TPA) to Miami (MIA) a couple of days ago (admittedly it’s not the most memorable thing from the past couple of days, but this is a travel blog)…
In this post:
Flight boarding all groups at posted boarding time
The other night, I arrived at the gate for my American flight one minute before scheduled boarding time, and was confused to find that they were already boarding all groups, nearly all passengers were already onboard, and they were forcing all passengers to gate check carry-on bags.
At first I thought I just got my time mixed up, and that the mistake was on me. But nope, I had timed it correctly. For what it’s worth, this was an Airbus A319 departing at 6:59PM, and boarding was scheduled for 6:24PM, 35 minutes before departure. The A319 is American’s smallest narrow body plane, so 35 minutes should be more than enough time to board the aircraft.
Fortunately I didn’t have a carry-on bag, so the gate checking of bags wasn’t an issue for me. But still, I couldn’t begin to wrap my head around why they started boarding so early. Because a minute after I boarded, we just sat there for another 20 minutes, before some of the late arriving passengers showed up.
Airline reliability is important, and that’s not just about departing on-time, but also about trying to stick to a schedule. If you tell people you’re going to start boarding 35 minutes before departure, then that’s when boarding should start, in my opinion. Boarding early without any operational logic makes no sense to me, since it just causes this culture of unnecessarily crowding the gate area early.
A gate checked bag fiasco with a surprising ending
I witnessed an interaction on this flight that I found quite surprising. At the door, the flight attendant was greeting people with “how are you?” I simply nodded, because I wasn’t in a position to answer that without unloading, and couldn’t muster up the insincerity to say “great” (though I guess in the US, it’s a question we ask and answer without thought, and it’s just another way of saying “hi”).
Meanwhile the guy behind me answered with “horrible,” when asked. At first I thought he was joking, but nope, he genuinely claimed to be doing horribly, because they forced him to gate check his bag. In fairness, the guy was seated in Main Cabin Extra, which comes with preferred boarding, so I imagine he was screwed over by the boarding process starting early.
When he got to his seat, he noticed empty space in the overhead bin above his seat (and throughout many parts of the plane). So he went up to the flight attendant at the door, and explained there was still lots of space in the overhead bin, and asked them to get his bag.
I thought to myself “yeah, as if they’re going to do that.” Unsurprisingly, they said it couldn’t be done. But then the situation took a turn. He said “my laptop is even there, with a lithium ion battery.”
I’m not sure if this guy was being strategic, but I must say… well played, sort of. Suddenly they took him seriously, and asked for the information related to the bag. So they went to get his bag, and brought it to the door, but then it got even more interesting — “you need to take out your laptop, but you still need to gate check the bag.”
He was dumbfounded, pointing out that there was space in the overhead bin above his seat. Like, why would they force him to gate check the bag when there was in fact space? Clearly they just didn’t want to give in, and didn’t want to backtrack. The guy kept arguing with the crew, asking them give him one reason he couldn’t place the bag in the overhead bin.
At first I thought “you’re never going to win arguing with a crew, this isn’t going to end well.” But to my surprise, his persistence paid off, and he was allowed to place the bag in the overhead bin.
Bottom line
I think all too often we frame a good passenger experience in terms of whether there are seat back TVs, or what champagne is served in premium cabins. But often the single most important thing is just creating as frictionless and reliable of an experience as possible.
To me, reliability doesn’t just mean operating flights on-time, but it means operating in line with expectations. There’s no reason that flights should board before the scheduled time, especially when you’re selling early access to the overhead bins as a feature of certain tickets or elite status. That’s also true when you combine it with the proactive and overly aggressive gate checking of bags that we see.
This is of course minor in the scheme of things, but it was interesting to see such an unnecessarily complicated boarding process. I think airlines underestimate the extent to which this kind of stuff leaves people with a bad impression. I was surprised when the passenger actually managed to get them to retrieve his bag and place it in the bin, though, when he found space.
AA hates its customers. HATES its customers. Its often a competition among its hateful staff to see who can treat passengers the worst.
@ Ben I’m cabin crew for another major US airline, and we’ve been repeatedly instructed not to accept bags that have already been gate-tagged, even if there’s space in the overhead bin. I get that it’s frustrating, and it looks like we’re just being difficult, but we’re not making up rules on the spot. We’re following company policy.
The reason we’re given is weight and balance for the cargo compartment. Once a bag is...
@ Ben I’m cabin crew for another major US airline, and we’ve been repeatedly instructed not to accept bags that have already been gate-tagged, even if there’s space in the overhead bin. I get that it’s frustrating, and it looks like we’re just being difficult, but we’re not making up rules on the spot. We’re following company policy.
The reason we’re given is weight and balance for the cargo compartment. Once a bag is tagged, it’s entered into the system as part of the aircraft’s checked baggage weight distribution. Moving it back to the cabin after that point messes with the numbers and requires adjustments that can delay departure.
Interesting, thanks for sharing. Still, even if not caused by the crew, the customer experience has not been taken into account when designing this process and that is the topic. But very good to know it is not decision of the crew
Come on, this makes no sense. My 10 lbs carry on will upset the balance of a modern jet?? Let's just call it what is is: an arbitrary rule.. ie checking all bags after a certain group number- sometimes immediately after first class. American has been the absolute worst about this. Gate agents claim the bins are full and it's mostly empty when you walk in. It's even worse upon arrive when some 90% of...
Come on, this makes no sense. My 10 lbs carry on will upset the balance of a modern jet?? Let's just call it what is is: an arbitrary rule.. ie checking all bags after a certain group number- sometimes immediately after first class. American has been the absolute worst about this. Gate agents claim the bins are full and it's mostly empty when you walk in. It's even worse upon arrive when some 90% of passengers on the plane start queuing in the jet bridge to retrieve their bags.
The one time I tried to fight back and ask for my carry-on back in order to make it to an early morning meeting on time -- when most of the overhead bin compartments were entirely empty (I have the pictures to prove it)-- I was threatened and faced the power trips that others referred to. I don't know how or why they get away with this.
Get to the gate 30min before the boarding time. I’m always happy when they start earlier in Florida. The Captain may want to get out earlier due to storms or other problems that may prevent departure.
I've yet to see AA board every single group at once, but I often see them call all remaining groups after Group 1 when the plane is small.
just some hours ago, i flew Air Canada from Quebec to Toronto.
Gate agents were asking people several times and were quite persistant to check in cabin luggage, since it wont be possible to stow all of the luggage.
It wasn't enforced though.
I was the first person to board, after two handicapped persons and guess what:
The overhead bins of the first four (yes you read that right) rows were all...
just some hours ago, i flew Air Canada from Quebec to Toronto.
Gate agents were asking people several times and were quite persistant to check in cabin luggage, since it wont be possible to stow all of the luggage.
It wasn't enforced though.
I was the first person to board, after two handicapped persons and guess what:
The overhead bins of the first four (yes you read that right) rows were all already filled with crew luggage.
Sorry but in my opinion that's just not how it's supposed to work.
This is one of the reasons I switched my loyalty from AA to Delta (in addition to operational reliability, customer service, in-flight entertainment, and quality of lounges). I can't count the number of times I showed up at the American gate 5-10 minutes early to find they were deep into the boarding process. It’s infuriating. Given that they sell seats and "bundles" that include early boarding, it should also be grounds for a refund of these service fees.
Well played by that gate checker
Meh, frequent flyers always think they are super-cool, showing up EXACTLY when they think it’ll mean they can walk up to jetbridge and board like a boss. Sadly they also squeal loudest when the airline messes with their moves.
Is anyone else concerned that this guy knew he had a lithium ion battery in his bag and checked it? There’s a reason they ask……
I have always found American Airlines has the most unruly and arbitrary boarding process of the US airlines (outside of Spirit Air and the old Southwest)
- Crowded gate areas full of people trying to skip their boarding assignment and standby passengers waiting for a seat
- Clearing of standby passengers way too early at the expense of confirmed passengers
- Lies about overhead capacity
Common sense sometimes takes a back seat in these situations. Good for that guy, I guess.
Different situation but reminds me of the time I was on a DL flight from ATL and we got diverted from LGA to JFK due to weather. Landed at JFK, pulled up to a gate, the door was open, and they said "everyone remain seated, we're going to conduct the flight from JFK to LGA." I was sitting in...
Common sense sometimes takes a back seat in these situations. Good for that guy, I guess.
Different situation but reminds me of the time I was on a DL flight from ATL and we got diverted from LGA to JFK due to weather. Landed at JFK, pulled up to a gate, the door was open, and they said "everyone remain seated, we're going to conduct the flight from JFK to LGA." I was sitting in first (a minor celebrity was sitting behind me) and I said "uh, the door is open right?" "Yes." "So if I don't have a checked bag I can just walk right off the plane, right?" "Uhhh...." "Let me ask this another way, if I walk off the plane are you going to stop me?" "No." "Okay then, thanks and have a good evening."
Common sense!
Yesterday our flight AC1823 CUN-YYZ pushed back fully 30 minutes before schedule. All passengers and crew seemed delighted by this. I thought it was unnerving. Isn't there an implicit promise in an airline's published schedule? And in other things they publish, like the "policy" that you must be at the gate 15 minutes before departure? Doesn't that imply that if you are at the gate 20 minutes before departure, you can fly? It should be...
Yesterday our flight AC1823 CUN-YYZ pushed back fully 30 minutes before schedule. All passengers and crew seemed delighted by this. I thought it was unnerving. Isn't there an implicit promise in an airline's published schedule? And in other things they publish, like the "policy" that you must be at the gate 15 minutes before departure? Doesn't that imply that if you are at the gate 20 minutes before departure, you can fly? It should be possible, on a non-full flight like this one, to comply fully with the airline's published deadlines and fly the published flight. I'd feel better knowing that if I get to the gate 20 minutes before departure (5 minutes before the deadline) the flight will not have left long ago.
But, then again, an airline can know every booked pax has boarded.
I don’t know if this is a TSA rule still, but I was told once the bag is tagged with a white tag it is a violation to untag it as it belongs in the cargo pit now. It’s a dumb rule, but we were always told never to untag it as staff. But this whole checking bags when there is more than enough room has got to stop. There has to be a better way.
I believe you are correct. Once it’s tagged it’s gonna ride downstairs.
HARD HARD HARD pass on AA on all fronts. Plus even though I am usually in boarding group 1 and 2 for Star Alliance (AC) and One World (AY) I always show up 15 min before boarding starts to ensure that they do NOT take my bag.
Viva aerobús does in Tijuana all the time. They post boarding 40 minutes prior but will begin 1 hour before. I’ll show up right at boarding time and they’re already doing final boarding calls, only for me to have to gate check my bag (when I bought a cabin bag with group 1), flight is already fully boarded. Yet we still sit there waiting for our set departure time with the door open. I get...
Viva aerobús does in Tijuana all the time. They post boarding 40 minutes prior but will begin 1 hour before. I’ll show up right at boarding time and they’re already doing final boarding calls, only for me to have to gate check my bag (when I bought a cabin bag with group 1), flight is already fully boarded. Yet we still sit there waiting for our set departure time with the door open. I get why they do it to help us leave on time, but also very annoying cuz I usually time my airport stuff to always show up right at boarding time.
Boarding process overall has become a zoo in the US. Just last week gate agent for Delta asked for passengers that needed extra time to board to board first, even before first class. Guess what? More than 10 people just walked in, no questions asked. Nobody with a wheelchair, nobody with a cane, nobody limping, just walked in. So, you can simply feel you “need extra time” to board and suddenly you have the plane...
Boarding process overall has become a zoo in the US. Just last week gate agent for Delta asked for passengers that needed extra time to board to board first, even before first class. Guess what? More than 10 people just walked in, no questions asked. Nobody with a wheelchair, nobody with a cane, nobody limping, just walked in. So, you can simply feel you “need extra time” to board and suddenly you have the plane all to yourself and pick whatever overhead bin space you want. Several first class passengers nodded their heads in disbelief since you could see none of those passengers needed extra time but were simply gaming the system. Gate agent didn’t say a word.
In ZRH when departing from a remote Gate (B) they always start boarding early. I never was able to use the dedicated Business class shuttle and had to queue all the way. This might be a way of LH-group to prevent SWISS from looking more premium then them…
If only Robert Isom had to go on TV to apologize for American's failure to be punctual by boarding early as the Japanese train executives did when the train left 25 seconds early.
Ridiculous. American is an airline that hates its customers.
There will nearly always be one or two stragglers who show up as boarding is about to end (I’m one of those) so they can’t leave anyways… why create all the unnecessary chaos?
Also I have noticed gate agents getting more and more aggressive gate checking bags almost to the point of a power trip. I’m usually in first so i can keep my bag but it seems more and more planes leave with plenty...
There will nearly always be one or two stragglers who show up as boarding is about to end (I’m one of those) so they can’t leave anyways… why create all the unnecessary chaos?
Also I have noticed gate agents getting more and more aggressive gate checking bags almost to the point of a power trip. I’m usually in first so i can keep my bag but it seems more and more planes leave with plenty of space for 10-20 more bags. Rather than count bags they just check every bag in the later boarding zones
Exactly people forget punctuality is not just about being late it's about not being early to.
This point was made painfully clear to me years ago by the VP of my organization. My project team finished a multi-year, multi-million dollar project 2-3 months early. We were proud and were feeling pretty good about it. Our VP publicly chewed us out for finishing early. Predictability is more important than finishing early.
Two answers, firstly is human nature. The flight and cabin crew see the opportunity to go home early. The ground staff are heavily pressured by airlines to ensure on time performance, so if there's an chance to board early and increase their odds of an on time departure, they'll take it.
The second is operational. Maybe the flight arrived early thanks to strong tailwinds, on the return leg they become strong headwinds and so...
Two answers, firstly is human nature. The flight and cabin crew see the opportunity to go home early. The ground staff are heavily pressured by airlines to ensure on time performance, so if there's an chance to board early and increase their odds of an on time departure, they'll take it.
The second is operational. Maybe the flight arrived early thanks to strong tailwinds, on the return leg they become strong headwinds and so not departing early could lead to a late arrival and missed connections (ok not so relevant in such a short domestic sector). Perhaps the airport has strictly enforced fees on how long the aircraft can stay parked for before additional charges kick in. Perhaps the company is short of aircraft back at their hub due to technical problems or weather delays elsewhere in the country so they're really pushing their staff to bring back the aircraft early and minimise delays through the rest of the day.
Ultimately the problem here is poor communication
And if the cabin crew are not paid until the door closes, their interest is having boarded completed as soon as possible, whether or not that is as quickly as possible.
Why don't they just leave an hour early then?
@ Chris; stupid comment! In that case they would at least arrive an hour earlier at destination. So nothing to do with payment.
I sympathize with you but I'm surprised you are surprised. If the plane is ready earlier, they board earlier because of the fear of a non-ontime departure. Common at LAX.
They'll clear the upgrade list early sometimes and if you aren't at the gate when they call your name, they skip you. Common with AA.
Weird indeed. I am glad the pax insisted.
I still don't understand why carriers in the US need 35mins to board any narrowbody, while JAL can fully board a T777 in 30 mins.
Because the self-loading cargo elements in Japan are more co-operative with each other and with the airline staff. :-)
And because the airline staff aren't trapped in a "policy" quagmire, defending the indefensible against the unwelcome hordes of (gasp!) actual, ya know, paying pax.